Hezbollah hints at Syria intervention

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has said that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat President Bashar al-Assad’s regime militarily.

Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in a televised address on Tuesday, said that Syria had “real friends in the region”, insinuating that his Iranian-backed armed group would intervene on the government’s side if the need arises.

The powerful Shia group is known to be backing Syrian regime fighters in Shia villages near the Lebanon border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad.